Mata Ashita
by InOrGaNiC-aNgElz
Summary: [Revised] A journey to find her family becomes a journey to find herself. [Short Story]
1. Default Chapter

Mata Ashita  
  
Chapter 1  
  
*Singin' in the cellars* .  
  
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***** .  
  
. Here she was. .  
  
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No. .  
  
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Here THEY were.  
  
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"I don't wanna be a chicken, I don't to be a duck na na na n-ow!"  
  
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Kagome tenderly caressed the new bruise that was forming on her head where a rock had been thrown at her.  
  
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"Shut up, wench!" her new companion carped.  
  
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He wasn't really a companion. In fact, she didn't even know his name! All she knew (and cared) was that he was the one to steal her bread, and he was all to blame for their imprisonment.  
  
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*Flashback*  
  
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The wind blew at her feet, creating little sand tornadoes around her. Kagome sighed as the sun beat down on her and the breeze toyed with her hair. Grass of incredible height grew about her, enveloping her in a field of slick, green blades and tickling her exposed arms. They rode up and on the elevated hills to the left of her, and ran down all the way to the little river to her right. It spread way ahead of her, beyond her line of sight, and behind where her journey began. The sky was clear, and the whole atmosphere was just wonderful. There couldn't have been a more perfect day to be out on the road.  
  
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Too bad she was allergic to grass.  
  
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Throughout her adventure so far, all she did was walk, sneeze, walk, sneeze, walk...and, well, you get the idea.  
  
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Her arms were getting rashes from her allergic reaction, her eyes were all puffy, and her whole face was red. To tell you the truth, she was not a pretty sight.  
  
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"Bored, bored, bored, bored..." Kagome chanted on and on. Walking such a great distance by herself was not fun, and kind of disappointing. She wouldn't have anyone to talk to, or anyone to keep her busy on this trip.  
  
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So to make herself feel better, she began to sing.  
  
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And sing she did.  
  
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She sang, and she sang, and she sang her heart out! She sang loud, proud, and so horribly that all living creature within a mile of her ran away.  
  
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****** .  
  
Somewhere in the distance, two diminutive, orange ears perked up.  
  
"What the heck is that?" a small kitsune thought out loud.  
  
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****** .  
  
*Grrrrgle*  
  
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"Ugh....sooooo.....hungry..." Kagome complained as she held her stomach dearly.  
  
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Exhausted, she sat at the foot of a tree in the middle of murky forest, starving to death. She had gotten so bored (and hungry) that she ate all the rations she had (not that she was smart enough to pack a good amount in the first place).  
  
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Hey, who wouldn't eat when they're bored?  
  
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So now she was stuck with an empty sack, accompanied an empty stomach.  
  
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The dead silence of the wood didn't help either. It was pitch black all around. She couldn't even see anything within a two-foot range of her face! What she wouldn't give to get out of there quickly, but a long day's worth of walking meant a good, long night's worth of sleep. She wouldn't know in which direction to go either.  
  
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Lazily examining the place, her eyes landed on a pair of golden eyes. She stared into golden eyes, mesmerized.  
  
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'Those eyes,' she thought, snapping out of her trance.  
  
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Those eyes were hooting at her!  
  
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"Can it, bird! It's not like I have anything to eat either!" Kagome shrieked at the night owl who calmly sat there, still 'hooting' away.  
  
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Feeling her eyelids gain weight, she stretched out on the leaf littered, dirt ground, for she failed to bring anything comfortable to sleep on.  
  
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She closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep, comforted by the sweet smell of baked goods.  
  
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Wait.  
  
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BAKED goods?  
  
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Baked goods meant food.  
  
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Food meant no hunger.  
  
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No hunger meant no grousing bellies.  
  
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As if hypnotized, she picked up her bag and followed the alluring scent.  
  
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Crossing the woods in a dazed state of mind, she stopped when the smell of bread became stronger.  
  
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Ahead of her lay a small cottage.  
  
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It stood out like sore thumb, smack dab in the middle of an elliptical clearing, in the center of the forest. Darkness and trees loomed over the petite dwelling, giving out a foreboding feeling.  
  
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Smoke rose from its chimney, providing evidence that something delicious was indeed cooking inside.  
  
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Sneaking up to the nearest window, Kagome wiped off the dust and peered inside.  
  
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It was a bakery.  
  
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What the heck was a bakery doing in the middle of a deserted forest?  
  
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Tables and racks upon racks were filled with bread. Every crook and cranny held a loaf of bread.  
  
. The only thing that made it seem to be inhabited was the fireplace. It was lit, stretching and molding shadows into odd, ominous looking forms.  
  
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There was a staircase to the very left that apparently led to the attic, and the other windows appeared to be quite dusty as well.  
  
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But the bread...  
  
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Oh the bread!  
  
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It looked tremendously mouth watering.  
  
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It may not have seemed like much, but to a famished girl, it looked like everything in the world.  
  
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Kagome noticed that to the very right of the house was a window.  
  
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A window she could easily fit through.  
  
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Wiping off her drool, she snuck over to the side of the house, and examined it.  
  
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It was unlocked.  
  
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Gratefully thanking the gods above, she opened it little by little; making sure very little sound could be heard. Checking left and right, she began to crawl through, completely oblivious to the lurking shadow.  
  
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****  
  
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"Urk...ugh...hpph!"  
  
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Kagome wiggled and pushed herself through the window as hard as she could. She let off a shriek when she fell to the ground with a thump  
  
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"Argh, since when were windows so little?" she whispered, rubbing her sore end.  
  
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She immediately forgot her pain when she looked around the place. Drool began to form at the end of her mouth again. Her stomach growled, reminding her of its much-wanted attention.  
  
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Standing up and patting the dust off her bottom, she grabbed a loaf of bread and bit into it, only to spit it out the next second.  
  
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"Blegh...blueberry"  
  
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With a disgusted face, she threw the half bitten bread aside, and searched through the other ones. She snatched up every loaf of bread that looked non-blueberry to her, and bit into it.  
  
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They were ALL blueberry.  
  
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"Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat..." Sighing, she looked around some more.  
  
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And there it was.  
  
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Sitting on right in the middle of the table.  
  
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All by itself.  
  
It looked......to put it shortly...  
  
. ...perfect.  
  
. Kagome stared longingly at it, as her hand reached out to grasp it, pulling it towards her watery mouth.  
  
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It didn't budge.  
  
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Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. She hauled at it again.  
  
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Still wouldn't move an inch.  
  
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Frustrated, she tugged and tugged and tugged.  
  
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It was on the fourth tug did she notice a clawed hand clutched at the other end of her dinner.  
  
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She was only allowed a short look at her opponent as the front door was thrown open.  
  
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*End Flashback*  
  
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It turns out that someone actually did live in this gosh-forsaken abandoned cottage. A lonely, old widow with no living relatives or friends. She had no husband either for he died eating one of her freshly baked breads.  
  
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You really couldn't blame her. It WAS her first time.  
  
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Also, the area surrounding her house wasn't really this deserted either.  
  
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All the animals had died eating the crumbs she had left for them.  
  
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But getting back to matters at hand...  
  
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"So...what's your name?" Kagome asked the longhaired stranger across from her whilst doodling imaginary patterns on the ground.  
  
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"None of your business!" he growled.  
  
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"Hey! I should at least know the name of the man who tried to take my food and leave me starving!" she pointed a finger to her still grumbling stomach to prove her point.  
  
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"That was not yours! I saw it first!"  
  
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"No you didn't! Plus, I got my hands on it first!" Kagome "hmph"ed, crossing her arms and turning her head away, refusing to talk such an infuriating man.  
  
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From the corner of her eye, she saw that he was also doing the same, except in the other direction. Taking advantage of the situation, she decided to study her "new found friend."  
  
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Of course, it would've helped if there were actually light in the room.  
  
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All she could see was the outline of his form. From her point of view, he looked fat. His body bulged out in different direction, evidence shown by the clothes he wore. Though his head did seem a little small on those plump shoulders. And his foot, that stuck out from under his leg (as result of sitting Indian style) was so tiny compared to that big lump he called a leg.  
  
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A movement at the top of his head caught her eye.  
  
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Something was...twitching.  
  
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"What are you staring at?" the observed man inquired.  
  
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Kagome brought her attention back to the stranger.  
  
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"Wha??" she responded dumbly, not expecting that question.  
  
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How had he known?  
  
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The twitching still bugged her.  
  
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What IS that thing??  
  
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She reached out her hand, but brought it back immediately, thinking better of it.  
  
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"No-nothing," she finally replied.  
  
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"Feh, stupid humans." The man complained.  
  
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This did not go unnoticed by the raven-haired girl.  
  
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"Excuse me?! What was that suppose to mean!"  
  
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"It meant exactly what it was implied, wench!"  
  
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"Why you-!"  
  
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A warm hand reaching past the barred barrier suddenly interrupted Kagome's retort.  
  
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"Sh!"  
  
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The intriguing little nubs on his head were twitching again. The moved left and right like two quick little radars on steroids.  
  
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She moved her hand to touch them again, when the man noticed her movement and pulled back.  
  
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"The old hag's asleep. Heh, this is our perfect chance."  
  
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She could practically hear the man smirk.  
  
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"Perfect time for what?"  
  
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"Escaping of course you idiot!"  
  
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"And HOW do u suppose we do this?"  
  
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"WE are not. I am. YOU stay here and rot to death."  
  
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"Hey! It was YOUR fault we got here in the first place!"  
  
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"No it wasn't! You're the one that stole my dinner!"  
  
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"No I did not!" and with that, Kagome latched onto the arm that still surpassed the barrier between them with her teeth.  
  
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A high-pitched scream erupted throughout the little cottage.  
  
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*** .  
  
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"What'd you do that for?!"  
  
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"You deserved it!"  
  
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"I'm a cripple now because of you!" the man held out his arm, showing two distinct (and quite deep) bite marks.  
  
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"Hey, you never told me you could bend bars! Oh yeah, wait until morning when she's got her cauldron full of broth ready for us to jump into to actually get us out of there!"  
  
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"Psh! That was only a taste of what the infamous all mighty Inu-yasha can do," he crowed, holding up both arms and flexing.  
  
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"Inu-yasha? Oooooooooh, so you're name is Inu-yasha huh?" Kagome smiled her feline smile teasingly.  
  
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Inu-yasha's face faltered for a second, then turned angry, then sad, then angry, then frustrated, as if he couldn't decide what to feel at the moment.  
  
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So he decided on angry.  
  
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He stalked off out of the edge of the forest where they were currently situated, and into the lush-green plains ahead of them.  
  
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"Hey! Wait up!" Kagome proclaimed, jogging to catch up to him. Being a girl, her strides weren't as long and quick as his.  
  
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Hearing her jogging behind him only caused him to walk faster.  
  
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And HIS fast walking caused HER to run.  
  
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Now HER running only caused HIM to run too.  
  
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By now Kagome was sprinting down the path of foot-imprinted grass where the object of her pursues had run across.  
  
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Irritated, she lunged towards the man, only able to take hold of his legs and causing him to fall face forward.  
  
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Imaginably applauding herself for the clever action, she crawled over Inu- yasha's legs and dropped heavily upon the boy's back, receiving an 'Oomph' from him.  
  
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"Oi wench! Get off! You're heavy!"  
  
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"Not unless you tell me what's the matter with you!"  
  
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The accused boy only remained silence, refusing to answer.  
  
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Growling (or at least her best attempt at a growl), Kagome yanked his silver hair, careful of the ears (which she had found out was that incessant twitching). (She had also discovered that he indeed was not fat, but the baggy haori he wore only made him look obese.)  
  
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"Don't you ignore me Mr.!"  
  
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They spent several minutes like that, Inu-yasha yelping at his abused scalp as Kagome tried to pry answers out of him.  
  
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"Aye! Let go wench and I'll tell you!"  
  
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Satisfied, she let go of his hair, making his head plop to the ground.  
  
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Silence stretched.  
  
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"Well? Aren't you gonna tell me?"  
  
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Kagome's face grew bright red out of frustration when she heard a snicker.  
  
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He wasn't gonna tell her? Fine.  
  
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For a second time that day, a scream sounded throughout the area.  
  
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***  
  
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"Tell me!"  
  
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"No!"  
  
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"Tell me!"  
  
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"No!"  
  
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"Tell me!!!!"  
  
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"No! Gosh, don't you ever shut-up! Grr...I bet your family's even sick of you!"  
  
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Inu-yasha waited for a smart response, but received none. For a second there he had congratulated himself for finally getting her to shut-up, until he felt a heavy weight lifted from his back.  
  
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"Huh?"  
  
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Confused, Inu-yasha retrieved his head from the ground to stare straight ahead, only seeing worn-out boots moving away from his face from his place on the ground.  
  
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Thinking he had said something wrong, he stood up, and quickly went after the girl.  
  
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She seemed to be walking faster.  
  
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So he sped up a bit.  
  
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She began to jog.  
  
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He quickened his pace, too.  
  
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Then she broke out into a full run.  
  
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And so did he.  
  
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'*Sigh*' he thought.  
  
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"Here we go again." 


	2. Truce

Mata Ashita  
  
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. Chapter 2: Truce  
  
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~*~  
  
"Gr....." she grumbled. "That good for nothing sonova-"  
  
"You're thinking out loud, ya know."  
  
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With an aggravated cry, she kicked the nearest patch of blossoms and walked further away.  
  
"Hey! What did those flowers ever do to you?"  
  
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~*~  
  
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He lay on his back, looking up at the stars while his feet warmed itself on the hearth. It was rare to have such a serene atmosphere like this. Just about all of his nights were spent contemplating how to escape in the cellars of local prisons in towns. That reason he was in prison in the first place would be for stealing food. But hey, a guy's gotta eat.  
  
Speaking of eating...  
  
He turned his head to the right where lay a lump by the riverbank.  
  
*Sigh*  
  
She was still mad at him.  
  
She had refused his invitation of a warm bed on the hearth, being the obdurate girl she was, and decided she'd rather spend her night on the soggy ground than with him.  
  
Sighing for the umpth time that day, he trekked towards the supposedly sleeping girl to persuade her to get her mulish butt back here, lest she get a cold.  
  
Not that he cared.  
  
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~*~  
  
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She shivered.  
  
It was a warm night, but the water tended to give off that cold feeling. Boy was that spot by the fire looking mighty tempting right now.  
  
'No,' she thought. 'Not giving in. C'mon Kagome. Think warm. Think warm. Yeah, that'll show him. I don't need him.'  
  
Pride always did get the better of her.  
  
She suddenly felt a heavy weight on her.  
  
'Huh?'  
  
She half sat up to see what had befallen upon her back. A red haori draped over her shivering body, giving off comforting warmth. Her sight caught on the boy that lay face up next to her, arms behind his head, enjoying the stars.  
  
With a 'hmph', she threw the source of warmth back in his face and turned away.  
  
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~*~  
  
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'That stubborn wench,' he muttered. 'doesn't know compassion when it's slamming right in her face.'  
  
He turned to his left to see the girl's back to him. Lifting his head, he began to confront her.  
  
"What the heck's your-"  
  
"Leave me alone!" she replied angrily.  
  
He growled. No one snapped at him.  
  
"You're still mad about the food aren't you?"  
  
Silence gave him his answer.  
  
He sighed.  
  
"Fine, fine, I'm SORRY," he apologized, rolling his eyes. "You happy now?"  
  
He was met again with a 'hmph'.  
  
Already tired with this argument, he did the last thing he could think of.  
  
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~*~  
  
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Kagome's eyes immediately cracked open when a soft thud landed right in front of her face.  
  
It was that loaf of bread!  
  
"THERE. Happy now?!"  
  
She sat up to face him, who had also sat up by this time, holding the prized possession.  
  
"But...how...what the f-"  
  
"Stole it."  
  
"But...how?" was her smart respond.  
  
"Eh, took it when the old hag wasn't looking."  
  
She looked at the food in her hand, and back at his face. Then back to the food, and back to his face.  
  
She felt kinda guilty now that he had given up what he could've taken and scoffed down before.  
  
She sighed, and broke the bread in half, throwing the other half in his face while eating her own.  
  
He looked surprised as the half piece landed on his lap. He, too, took it at stuffed it in his mouth.  
  
It wasn't a meal, but it would do for now.  
  
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~*~  
  
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"So, where did you plan to go?"  
  
"Feh, none of your business, wench!"  
  
A pregnant pause filled the distance between them, as they both tried to find way to break the silence.  
  
"So, where are YOU going?" Inu-yasha asked, somewhat quietly.  
  
Kagome smiled. Good. She'd been waiting for him to ask her that.  
  
"I'm looking for my family," she happily started off. "I was orphaned for as long as I can remember. I couldn't remember anything before Kaede-baba took me in. All she ever told me was that I was found lying in the grass, a bit away from the burning village I had come from."  
  
Her eyes glazed over, at the remembrance of her Kaede-baba, her foster mother, and Shippo-Chan, her adorable little foster brother.  
  
Hours passed as Kagome enjoyed herself, talking to the boy to her right. It felt great to have someone intently listen about her life story, leading up to the events that happened in the cottage in the woods.  
  
"It's funny that we met in such a place and under such circumstances, huh?"  
  
She turned her head to her right, seeing the boy fast asleep. She sighed.  
  
'At least he's not such a jerk when he sleeps,' was the last thing she thought before she drifted off to la la land.  
  
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~*~  
  
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~ Days later ~  
  
"Harder! Do it harder!"  
  
"This is the hardest I can go!"  
  
"Put all your strength and force in your hips. Thrust it out a bit!"  
  
"I'm thrusting! I'm thrusting!"  
  
"No, no! You gotta have that swinging motion. Bring it all the way out this way, and swinging it in hard this way!" Inu-yasha showed his point, swinging his arm out as he let go of the rock.  
  
Kagome stared in awe as the rocked skipped seven spaces through the water, something she COULD NOT do. She picked up the rock, and tried at it again, only to have the rock plop right down to the bottom of the river.  
  
"Argh! I can't do it!"  
  
"Ok, swing back your arm behind you, and put all your force in your hips and arms."  
  
'That did not sound right,' she thought.  
  
Sighing, Kagome threw the rock once more, making sure to have that 'thrusting' movement she was taught.  
  
The moment it hit the surface of the water, it bounced off and landed to the spot ahead.  
  
Kagome squealed, looking at her rock go!  
  
'1! 2! 3! 4-'  
  
It stopped.  
  
"Where the HECK did that duck come from?!"  
  
Out of nowhere, a green mallard had paddled right in the way of the dangerously skipping rock, landing right in its face.  
  
"Ouch." Inu-yasha stated casually, not feeling sorry in the slightest way for the dead bird.  
  
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~*~  
  
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"Urgh! Today is just not my day is it?" Kagome complained.  
  
After that duck incident, she had gotten paranoid about her skills. Scared she would kill something else, she had dodged everything living, even if it meant falling hard on her butt just so she wouldn't harm that innocent leaf about to fall.  
  
Inu-yasha rolled his eyes. "Look, you're not a crazed murderer ok?"  
  
"Oh, look who's talking! At least I didn't take advantage of that duck and roasted it!"  
  
"Hey, you ate it, too!"  
  
It was true. She did wolf down almost most of it, but she did feel guilty. That counts, right?  
  
"Ugh, I think I'm going vegetarian now."  
  
Her body hazardously swayed back and forth at the rumbling in her stomach. It sure wasn't hunger.  
  
"Get on," he insisted, crouching down in front of her.  
  
Not minding a break from walking all day (her feet were getting pretty sore), she took the offer and threw herself on back, emitting an 'Uph' from the boy.  
  
"Gosh dang it, you're heavy."  
  
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"Do you really want to find your family?" he asked out of the blue, figuring she was still awake.  
  
"Huh?" she reacted on instinct, stunned as the sudden topic was brought up. "What kind of question is that? Of course I do!"  
  
"But, don't you already have a family? Someone who already cares for you, and loves you?"  
  
She stared at the back of his head, about to make a smart remark, before she realized he was serious. She was quiet for a while, contemplating on how to answer that.  
  
"I-I guess, I don't know."  
  
"You're not looking for them are you?"  
  
Kagome widened at the accusation, but he continued with his ramblings before she could interrupt.  
  
"You're just looking for someone to call your own, a house to call a home, a 'family' to belong to. But you already have one. As long as someone cares for you, you already belong. Right there, with the people who love you."  
  
That uncomfortable stillness was there again.  
  
"You should be happy with what you have. It's more than what you can say for me."  
  
She looked away from the ground she had been gazing at, to look to his head once more, looking up at the setting sun fervently.  
  
'Whoa, poetic mode,' she mused to herself.  
  
That's when what he said had sunk in.  
  
"What? What does that mean, 'it's more than you can say for me'?"  
  
Continuing in his walk, Inu-yasha shook his head to clear out his thoughts.  
  
"Never mind."  
  
"Aw c'mon. You never really told me about. This is the perfect time!" she pleaded.  
  
"Feh."  
  
"Why are you here, with me? Where are you going? What are you looking for?"  
  
"I can't tell you what I'm looking for," he said firmly.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I don't know what I'm looking for."  
  
"What? How is that possible?" she gasped. "You're a kidnapper aren't you?! I knew it! Get me off right now!"  
  
"Ah! Stop that!" he yelled as her foot embedded itself into his side. "Argh! Relax! I'm not gonna kidnap you!"  
  
Finally satisfied with his answer, she stopped flailing about, out of breath.  
  
Minutes after, he presumed it was safe to continue where he left off.  
  
"I guess, you can say I'm like you. Looking for a place to belong."  
  
"What about your family?" she asked cautiously, not wanting to scare him off now that she got him talking.  
  
"They died," he replied sadly, his head bent towards the ground.  
  
"Oh."  
  
Her heart opened up to him. So he had lost loved one, too. He was all alone, unlike her. She had someone to love, and someone to love her back. And here she thought SHE was the unfortunate one.  
  
Inu-yasha's head snapped up from its position when he felt to small arms wrap even tighter around his neck.  
  
"I'll be here to love you, Inu-yasha," she whispered. 


End file.
